Monday, September 7, 2015

Chapter 85

“Stay
here,” Sawyer commanded.

“But
…”

Sawyer
ignored me as he flew out of the bed, grabbed the shotgun, and then made his
way downstairs to find out who was banging on the door at three in the morning.

I
was doing the best I could to get dressed silently yet be ready to help Sawyer
if I could.I cursed how clumsy and slow
I was – the cold making it worse – and then cursed again when Sawyer yelled,
“No!”The sound being followed by a
shotgun blast.

I
nearly fell down the stairs when I reached the landing and saw Burt Jr. huddled
at the door crying and shivering but managed to get down and pull him the rest
of the way inside.The night was
freezing and I grabbed up an afghan that I had used earlier to put over Jeannie
while she slept.He clung to me and I
was torn between trying to see what was happening with Sawyer and taking care
of the nearly hysterical boy in my arms.Right as I was about to go to the door Sawyer banged inside carrying
Delly and trying to drag an obviously shocked Rissa along too.

Sawyer
took the stairs two at a time carrying his barely conscious sister and as soon
as they were out of sight in the dark Rissa decided to emulate her brother and
have a hysterical fit.I almost slapped
her but could see she’d already been roughed up.Instead I grabbed both of her arms and shook
her twice.“Rissa!Look at me!That’s better.You’re going to
have to help me to help you all.C’mon.Calm down so we don’t all come tumbling down
the stairs.That’s all your mother needs
right now.”

She
gave me a look like she’d like to scratch my eyes out but I’d survived several
such attempts and was prepared to do what I had to.She didn’t help with Burt Jr. but she didn’t
add to the problems I had getting him up the stairs either.We were three-quarters up when Sawyer came to
help.He took one look at Rissa’s
expression and put her against the wall; he wasn’t rough but he wasn’t gentle
either.

“You
will NOT cause problems.You WILL mind
Kay-Lee without giving her any lip.I
come back and find you’ve been any size or shape of a problem and I will turn
you over to the aunts for the duration.I find out any of your slack-jawed friends were in on this and you
better pray … that’s all I’m saying.You
got that girl?”

After
a brief moment of defiance she crumbled.“They hit me!They HIT me!”

“Yeah
and from what your mother said they did worse to some of the others including
your little brother.Stop being a
spoiled brat pain in the ass and grow up already.Get in there and help with your mother.”

She
scrambled to get away from him.I tried
to send Burt Jr. after her but he clung to me.Sawyer finally picked him up and carried him into the room.He put the boy in a chair by the bed but he
slid to the floor and stayed there.I
saw Sawyer had started a fire but had also locked the old-fashioned fire screen
so it couldn’t be gotten to without the key that went with it.

He
pulled me into the hallway.“I have to
go.Delly didn’t say much before she passed
out but a group of about two dozen people came to their place.Claimed they were looking for Mason.Something went wrong and shooting
started.She saw Burt fall and then most
of the others run off but two of them.Those two grabbed her and the kids, roughed ‘em up, then said they were
coming here.”

“Why?!”

“Paybacks.From what they said they were the ones with
Mason the morning he came here to create trouble.Babe I’ve got to go.”

“That
makes no sense.”

“Not
much does right now,” he growled while throwing on his heavy jacket after tying
his boots on.He stopped and then
grabbed me in a tight hug.“Babe … I … I
gotta.”

I
decided rather than throwing a hissy and delaying the inevitable that I would
do what I could.“While you go put some
extra shells in your pockets I’m gonna throw some jerky in a bag for you.”

I
left Sawyer only long enough to hobble to the kitchen pantry as quickly as I
could and grab one of the snack bags that I’d started making up for Sawyer to
take when he left the house.I was
always worried that he’d get stuck someplace and no one would think to offer
him anything to eat.It had happened
enough times that I never had to worry about the bags going stale.I also poured what was left of the lukewarm
coffee into a thermos.It wouldn’t taste
great but it was thick, dark, high test, and that’s about all a Hartford needs.Hot would have been nice but wasn’t necessary
in the scheme of things.

By
the time I got back Sawyer had added some layers over his long johns, put his
coat on, and added his rifle and a hand gun to the shot gun he had already been
carrying.I wished one of the cousins
was around to back him up but there was nothing I could do to make it happen.I handed him the bag and the thermos for
which I got another kiss.

“Bolt
the door Babe and don’t open it for anyone but Gramps, Uncle Ned, or Uncle
James.”

“And
Tommy and …”

“No,”
he said harshly before drawing a breath.“Kay-Lee … Babe … just do as I’m asking you to.Don’t open it for anyone but me and those
three.Tommy and … and some of the
others … are good guys but it wouldn’t take much to break ‘em down if they
threatened the right person.So just
mind me on this so my mind can be at ease.”

“Sure
Sawyer.Just promise me … be careful.”

“Absolutely,”
he said.“And don’t let Rissa push you
around.She’ll maybe try but no matter
my sister or Burt Jr., you can’t let her get away with it or she’ll just keep
trying to run you over.Once she figures
out she can’t she’ll settle down.”

“Don’t
worry about me … or the others.You …
you just be careful.And come back.Soon.”

“Soon
as possible.Now give me another kiss to
warm me up and then you bolt this door.And remember …”

still one of my favorites. I've spent the last week reading your stories over again. they're just wonderful, You're a very talented writer. I hope everything is alright and pray you might come back to update us.

Thank you for all the work that you have put in to your many stories. I have been home from work due to a minor injury, and they have kept me distracted and entertained for many hours. When I happily return to work on Monday I will remember the strength of your many heroines as I get through the first few days and all the silly questions. Thank you for sharing your gift with your readers.